Katonas Asimis

Katonas studied Fine Arts in London and Architecture in Bath, UK. He worked as an artist in London, Athens, New York, Salonica and Santorini. His works have been displayed in various exhibitions internationally, such as the Venice Biennale and the Thessaloniki Biennale of Arts. His latest series, the subject of which is the rhythmology of Santorini, is exhibited at the AK Art Foundation. Also, the design and creation of the AK Art Foundation was collaboration between artists Katonas Asimis and Eleni Kolaitou.

A partly representational artist who utilizes a neo-expressionist style, Katonas is interested in the sensation which lies beneath the artistic outcome itself; he engages with the energy of intention and the metaphysical aspect of composition.

There are two fundamental directions which are consistently reflected in his work. On the one hand, he focuses on the human form, the human body and portraiture, and he investigates how these can be shaped or re-shaped according to the emotional weight they carry in themselves, or the psychological and existential emotional load they engender. His partially representational painting is based on the expressive correlation between the primary elements which make up his paintings – that is, the brush strokes which create them – and the purpose and sense of how they are positioned and ordered. It is exactly the intention and emotional weight of these correlations that illuminate the ties that bind the artist and his subject, the psychological, symbolic or emotional impact of what is being depicted.

At the same time, the artist examines the meaning and outcome of how the composition elements are arranged in semi-abstract painting. The starting point of this artistic direction is plasticity, order and the relationship among the fundamental elements which construct a scene. Ultimately, this process determines the aesthetic impact of these relationships, rendering image a declaration of the symbolic, the mysterious and the essential.

Katonas Asimis enhanced the architectural design of the AK Art Foundation building with his vision and superb understanding of both natural and artificial space. A visual artist of broad education and an international career, Katonas marries in his work the representational element with the mystery of abstraction, and he invites – challenges – the viewer to engage in his/her own, completely individual interpretation.